That's it from me as this year's Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) ends with the Chepauk Super Gillies being crowned as champion for the second time.
MATCH REPORT| TNPL 2019: Bowlers hand Chepauk Super Gillies second title in three years
126 didn't seem enough at the end of the first innings but the CSG bowlers held their nerves and successfully defended the modest total, thereby winning the 2019 TNPL title.
DD was in the chase for a brief period, when Vivek Raj and Sumant Jain were batting. After Alexander removed Vivek in the 17th over, it was advantage CSG once again. Periyaswamy, as he has done throughout the tournament, completed the formalities and claimed the best figures by a bowler in a TNPL final.
Sasidev and Murugan Ashwin's 61-run sixth wicket partnership for CSG actually made a big difference in the game's end result as most batsmen struggled throughout the day.
DD 114/9 in 20 overs
THREE WICKETS IN FIVE BALLS AND CSG WINS TNPL 2019. Wild slogs everywhere. And Periyaswamy takes a five-wicket haul. He finishes the tournament with 21 wickets in 9 games.
Mohammed is caught by Vijay Shankar at long-on in the second ball of the over. R Rohit falls the very next ball, after he top edges the ball and finds Sasidev who takes a good running catch from backward point.
Another one falls in the penultimate ball of the over. J Kaushik is the first player to be out bowled in this year's final. Beautiful yorker from Periyaswamy once again. A single comes off the last ball and the CSG players run into the field to celebrate.
Periyaswamy finishes with figures of five wickets for 15 runs in four overs, which includes a maiden. AMAZING STUFF!!!
Alexander strikes again! | DD 105/6 in 19 overs
Gandhi sticks with Alexander. Bold move. And it pays off! SUMANT IS OUT! He tried to slog a ball way outside off but only finds long-off. A steady innings from Sumant but he couldn't get going after point. Harish Kumar took the catch.
No cross over. Poor stuff from DD. R Rohit walks in. He hands the strike back to Mohammed, who gets a lucky inside edge to the boundary. Three singles follow. 15 needed off the last over!
DD 104/5 in 18 overs
Six singles scored in the 18th over bowled by Periyaswamy. 23 runs off 12 balls required to win. Sumant and Mohammed need to find the boundary a number of times in the next over.
Alexander gets Vivek | DD 98/5 in 17 overs
Sumant once again hands the strike back to Vivek. IT'S A WICKET! Vivek makes the long walk back to the pavilion. A slow and low delivery from Alexander. Vivek tries to create space and smash it over covers. But unfortunately for him, there is an under-edge and the keeper Sushil completes a amazing reflex catch.
Big blow for DD. Advantage CSG once again. M Mohammed walks in. He scores a boundary off a loose delivery in the over. Eight runs and a wicket in the over. 29 runs off 18 balls needed.
DD 90/4 in 16 overs
Vijay Shankar to bowl out. Sumant is happy to give the strike back to the in-form Vivek. TWO FOURS come in the next three balls. CSG needs to get the wicket of Vivek to win this match.
Vivek is taking risks at will now. Sumant is playing the role of the spectator at the opposite end. Two singles in the last two balls. 37 required off 24 balls. GAME ON!
Vivek hits two maximums | DD 79/4 in 15 overs
M Ashwin to finish his quota. Two runs scored in the first four balls. Sumant scores a boundary past sweeper and hits a double in the last ball of the over.
Harish Kumar will continue. A SIX! That too it came in the first ball of the over. Vivek hits one over third man. Two dot balls bowled. ANOTHER SIX! This time it's a huge one over long-on. Vivek is bringing his side back into the game. Two more dot balls to end the over. 48 off 30 needed now.
Harish strikes! | DD 59/4 in 13 overs
AND GONE! Right-arm pacer Harish Kumar gets a wicket of his very first ball. Abhinav is gone for 21. The batsman advances and goes for the pull, but he doesn't get enough on it. Alexander takes a wonderful low catch at shot fine-leg.
The decision was sent to the third-umpire and it still stays out. R Vivek is the new man in. He gives the strike back to Sumant, who hits a four to extra cover in the penultimate delivery of the over. A single concludes the over. DD needs 68 in 42 balls to win TNPL 2019.
DD 53/3 in 12 overs
M Siddharth continues. Three singles to begin the over and then there's a dot ball. ANOTHER SIX! This time it's Abhinav Mohan.
It was in the slot and the left-hander smokes it past cow corner. A tough caught and bowled chance for the bowler, the very next ball. 10 runs came off that over. The most in a over in the second innings.
A slow partnership | DD 43/3 in 11 overs
A left-arm orthodox bowler replaces another. M Siddharth to bowl the 10th over. And again it's a tight over with three singles and three dot balls.
M Ashwin continues at the other end. Two singles from Sumant and Abhinav respectively to begin the over. Two dot balls follow. AND IT'S A SIX! The ball is bowled on his leg as Sumant sits on his knee and slog-sweeps the balls a long way over backward square-leg. Much-needed one that was. A single to end the over.
DD 31/3 in 9 overs
The spinners are keeping it very tight now. Alexander and M Ashwin concede only four and three respectively in their second over. The captain Gandhi has set the perfect field for his bowlers. DD needs 96 runs to win in 66 balls.
DD 24/3 in 7 overs
Alexander comes into the attack. After two dot balls, four singles were scored in the over. M Ashwin replaces Vijay Shankar now. Five singles followed by a dot ball to end the over. DD just hanging in there. 103 runs required off 78 balls.
Can DD fight back? | DD 15/3 in 5 overs
Periyaswamy continues. Sumant plays a dot ball and then follows it up with a single. Abhinav does the same. A wide is bowled next. Sumant then hits a perfect shot past point, which hits the boundary rope.
Four runs came off Vijay Shankar's next over. Sumant and Abhinav need to bat deep here for DD to stand any chance in this game.
DD 4/3 in 3 overs
Hari Nishanth flicked a boundary over mid-wicket to open the scoring for DD. Vijay Shankar came back strong with three dot balls. AND ONE MORE WICKET! DD falling apart here.
Shankar bowls a short ball, Nishanth advances and goes for a pull, but he finds M Siddharth at deep square-leg. 126 looks like 200+ now. The star with the ball Abhinav Mohan is the next batsman to walk to the crease.
DD 0/2 in 2 overs
G Periyaswamy, right-arm fast medium, has been brought into the attack. GONE! He's got the big fish and Jagadeesan has to depart for a three-ball duck. N.S. Chaturved comes to the crease. GONE! Another one bites the dust and Periyaswamy is on fire. Chaturved departs and DD are reeling.
DD 0/0 in 1 over
Welcome back. Vijay Shankar with the new ball. Hari Nishanth and N Jagadeesan to open the batting. Shankar getting the ball to swing. Starts off with a maiden.
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After a very poor start, CSG has set DD a target of 127. This will definitely be a tricky chase, considering the the wicket will be tough to bat in the second innings.
J Kaushik and Abhinav Mohan took two wickets each for DD and bowled economic spells, while Sasidev's 44 helped CSG enormously. M Ashwin helped him ably.
CSG 126/8 in 20 overs
An eventful final over comes to an end, with Ramalingam Rohit grabbing two wickets. Chepauk Super Gillies finished on 126/8. Dindigul Dragons needs 127 to win and lift the title.
CSG 116/6 in 19 overs
M Ashwin hits a beautiful boundary as Mohammed bowled the first ball of the penultimate over. It was a drive straight past the bowler.
Five more runs came in the over.
AND OUT! Sasidev is run-out with six balls to go. Advantage DD once again.
Chepauk hitting hard | CSG 107/5 in 18 overs
R Rohit is back into the attack. Ashwin manages to score a single in the first ball. Strike goes back to Sasidev. And there comes the much-needed six off the third ball of the over.
This time it's over cover. Might have been a slower one. Sasi follows it up with a double. In the end, this over emerges as the best-scoring one for the CSG. 11 runs came of that over.
All down to Sasidev now! | CSG 96/5 in 17 overs
Praanesh with the ball. Sasidev is beaten straightaway as he tried to cut. He scores a six over mid-off, the next ball. Amazing footwork from the batsman.
Again, we have a number of singles to end the over. Sasidev is acting sensible now, he is not swinging the bat every ball but he is taking calculated risk. 130-140 might be a great total.
Last four overs! | CSG 86/5 in 16 overs
J Kaushik - 4 overs, 2 wickets, 22 runs and M Abhinav - 4 overs, 2 wickets, 16 runs. Amazing stuff!!!
Four singles in the first four balls of the Mohammed over. Sasidev plays a beautiful drive to the long-off boundary next up. This man is the key now. A single to end the over. Sasidev, at 24 off 22, must do the big-hitting next over.
CSG 77/5 in 15 overs
Mohammed bowls his first over of the game. Except the first ball, which was a dot, there were five singles scored in the over.
Sasidev finally goes for the aerial shot in the very first ball of the next over. He comes down the track and hits Abhinav for a six over long-on. He read the googly early on and the maximum has come at the right time.
He takes a single in the next ball as he tucks the balls towards leg side. Clever batting from the left-hander. Four dot balls to finish the over.
CSG 65/5 in 13 overs
Murugan Ashwin is the next batsman in. Sasidev took a single off Praanesh. Ashwin after facing two dot balls went for the slog. He connected perfectly and sent the ball to deep mid-wicket and got four runs. The over cost six runs.
Abhinav, in his third over, kept tossing it up as usual and troubled the batsmen. He conceded four single in the 13th over as CSG is trying hard to get to a respectable total.
Abhinav strikes again! | CSG 55/5 in 11 overs
The wrist-spinner Abhinav Mohan bowls slower through the air and generates spin from the pitch. He just kept tossing the ball up almost entire over.
And in the final ball of the 11th over, he tempted Sushil to come down the track. The batsman completely missed the ball and the skipper-keeper Jaggi took off the bails to complete a beautiful wicket!
Sushil is the key | CSG 52/4 in 10 overs
Abhinav conceded only two more runs in the ninth over. CSG must try to capitalise on the left hand-right hand combination now.
Praanesh came into the attack at the other end. He started the over with a wide. Next up, he bowled few tight deliveries. The penultimate ball was another wide and he was finally punished for his indiscipline as Sushil hit a four down the leg side in the last ball of the tenth over.
The captain departs | CSG 43/4 in 8.2 overs
J Kaushik completed his quota of four overs straightaway. He bowled a big no-ball in the over. The over cost six runs.
Gandhi and Sushil scored a boundary each in the next Silambarasan over. 10 came off that over, the most of a over in the innings so far.
Abhinav Mohan grabbed a wicket in just his second ball as he got rid of the dangerous Gandhi. The skipper lofted the ball to wide long-on where Mohammed waited and took a good catch. CSG falling apart now. Sasidev is the new man in.
DD clearly on top | CSG 27/3 in 6 overs
There were three singles to complete the Kaushik over. The next over, spinner Silambarasan replaced R Rohit and he conceded only one run.
A brilliant catch by Jaggi! | CSG 23/3 in 4.3 overs
CSG is having no answer to the pacers of DD. Vijay Shankar came down the track and tried to hit it to third-man. But the away movement produced by J Kaushik was too much to handle for the India international.
DD skipper Jagadeesan took an amazing one-handed catch. However, it was referred to the third umpire with soft signal given as out. And the final decision was out as well. The new batsman Sushil hit a boundary past mid-on in the third ball of the over.
Both openers fall | CSG 19/2 in 4 overs
In the third ball of the over, Gandhi hit a boundary to deep mid-wicket. Looks like he's going for the big shots now. A single in the next ball and Sridhar Raju was on strike.
Another short ball on off-stump and Raju throws it away. He comes forward and cuts it having no other choice. Abhinav Mohan takes the catch at point. Vijay Shankar walks in now.
First six of the innings | CSG 12/1 in 3 overs
R Rohit bowled the second over of the game. He gave away only three runs. The DD opening bowlers are exploiting the bounce on offer and troubling the CSG top-order.
In the next over, after three dot balls, there were two singles. The captain Gandhi finally took the risk of the last ball, which paid off, as he smoked a six over deep square leg.
Kaushik strikes early! | CSG 1/1 in 1 over.
J Kaushik gets the early breakthrough. Ganga Sridhar Raju took the single of the second ball. There was good bounce. The third ball was a short one on off-stump and Gopinath swung to the fences. Unfortunately for him, there was not enough wind, as in Dindugal or Tirunelveli, to take the ball past the boundary.
Silambarasan completed the catch. The skipper Kaushik Gandhi is the new man in. Three brilliant good-length deliveries to finish the over.
REMINDER: Ravichandran Ashwin is not available for DD as he has flown to West Indies to represent India in the upcoming Test series. However, Vijay Shankar is playing this final for CSG.
CSG is unchanged for the final, while DD has made two changes. It has brought in pacers J Kaushik and Praanesh for Aditya Arun and Arun Mozhi. DD would be hoping for its fast bowlers to fire today.
The umpires and players are in. Game on!
- In 2019, CSG finished second in the league stage with five wins and two losses against DD and Madurai Panthers.
- In 2019, DD finished at top of the points table once again with six wins and one loss against the Kovai Kings. The team lost to CSG in Qualifier 1.
Toss update: CSG has won the toss and it will be batting first.
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan during the pitch report : "The pitch is very hard which means the ball will come on nicely to the bat early on. However, it will be tougher for the batsmen in the second innings as spin will play a part. Win the toss and bat first. 150-160 will be a very good score."
- The table-topper has never won the TNPL title. WIll DD finally overcome this jinx? Or will CSG become the first team to win the TNPL twice.
- The Dindigul Dragons (DD) will be playing in its second consecutive final. Last year, it lost to the Madurai Panthers (MP) in the final. DD has finished at the top of the table in three of the four editions of the TNPL. However, the team has found it difficult in playoff matches.
- This will be the third TNPL final for Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG). In 2016, CSG finished runner-up to the Tuti Patriots (TP). The very next year, it beat the same team to the title. Last season, CSG ended up at the bottom of the table.
TEAM NEWS:
CSG XI : Kaushik Gandhi (c), Ganga Sridhar Raju, H Gopinath, Vijay Shankar, U Sasidev, Harish Kumar, M Ashwin, Sushil (wk), Siddharth, Periyaswamy, Alexander.
DD XI : Jagadeesan (c & wk), Hari Nishanth, NS Chaturved, M Mohammed, R Vivek, R Rohit, Silambarasan, Mohan, Sumant, Praanesh, J Kaushik.
Welcome back to the LIVE coverage of the Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG) vs Dindigul Dragons (DD) TNPL final fixture.
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